186 Scimtific Intelligence. — -Meteorology. 



5. Shower of Fishes in Argyleshire. — " The rare occurrence 

 of such falls renders them so remarkable, as to be remembered 

 after long intervals of time, and even after every circumstance 

 connected with them is forgotten. When any phenomenon is 

 not considered in its relation to any particular cause, few will 

 attend to its possible relations to preceding events ; and fewer 

 still will esteem it of such importance as to treasure up the ob- 

 servations which they might have happened to make, even al- 

 though these might be of great importance, in illustrating the 

 nature and causes of the circumstance observed. 



It is thus, that, though the testimony of many has enabled 

 me to ascertain, that a shower of herring-fry fell in Lorn, about 

 the year 1796, yet I have not met with any who could inform 

 me of the particulars concerning it. 



In the same district, and near the same place, on a small emi- 

 nence above Melford House, a shower of herring fell in 1821, 

 in every respect so large and good, that the tenants by whom 

 they were found were induced to send some of them to their 

 landlord, then residing in Edinburgh. In regard to the state 

 of the weather, I could learn no more than that it was exceed- 

 ingly boisterous; while the hill on which they were found is 

 exposed to the south-west wind, which blows along Loch Mel- 

 ford, an arm of the sea in which herrings are frequently found ; 

 and, as far as I know, the only one in this quarter in which the 

 fly is commonly and successfully used in fishing them. 



In the month of March 1817, strong gales of wind from the 

 north were experienced in Appin. Upon the evening of the 

 second day of their continuance, rain fell in abundance ; and 

 next day being very warm and sultry, some children observed a 

 large quantity of herring-fry scattered over a moss a little to the 

 north-east of the ferry of Shien. There might have been about 

 three barrels or more of these, and measuring from 1^ to 3 

 inches in length. Now, the place in which they were found is 

 only about 300 yards north of Lochcreran, an arm of the sea 

 running east and west, from which severals supposed the fry 

 must have been raised. The wind, however, being from the 

 north, renders this a seeming impossibility ; and it may, per- 

 haps, be more safely concluded, that they must have been eject- 



